2 x Gigabit NIC ports ???

[laithmeister]

Hi there,


Ok so I have a motherboard that has 2 x Gigabit Network interface. besides using one to connect to my router and surf the internet what can I do with 2nd port? Would connecting it to the router some how spread the network load coming in and out of my system? Or do I have to do some configuring to set that up? Or am I just dreaming.. Thx in advance..

 

[Emulex]

i use one for hdhomerun(s) (qam/atsc over ip) traffic and the other for primary use. trust me you want a switch in front of a router my wrt600n would trip out at high traffic (say 1080p qam * 2 = 30-40mbps) plus rendering that in media center and sending it back out.

i first separated the nic cards which helped some but then put a gigabit switch before the router - fixed all the issues. then lastly decided to run the 1 port direct to hdhomerun since low cost gigabit switches have pretty low packet buffer sizes.

 

[airdata]

I had a cross-over cable hooked to my 2nd one w\ my internet connection shared so that I could hook up another system in my office. Most people would just get a switch though

 

[Rifter]

you can team them if the NIC's support it and the drivers for your OS and the switch also needs to support it. this will almost double the speed but most people will not need this on a home network.

 

[DivideBYZero]

You can have a production LAN and management LAN in your home. WIN!

 

[JackMDS]

Actually you will have to live with the troubling idea that the Mobo's vendor put an extra 10 cents into the Mobo because it is good for marketing, and then putting you in a compromised psychological status.

In reality Teaming is Not possible with client OS, and unless you have some sort of need for two independent Networks, forget about the second NIC.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Actually you will have to live with the troubling idea that the Mobo's vendor put an extra 10 cents into the Mobo because it is good for marketing, and then putting you in a compromised psychological status.

In reality Teaming is Not possible with client OS, and unless you have some sort of need for two independent Networks, forget about the second NIC.

Linux is a client OS and it supports it

Oh you mean MICROSOFT OS

 

[Eos]

I've got three machines with dual GB NICs and have run things this way for the last 3.5 years.

We have two ISPs (for redundancy; I work from home), and two of the machines connect to one each of the ISP. Then all three connect to a GB switch for an internal LAN running on 10.0.0.x. Data transfer is a breeze.

 

[Emulex]

why wouldn't you just use one router to nat to the dual isp's? it can do advanced routing in one spot. old xincom is what i use $50-100 on ebay used.

 

[Eos]

why wouldn't you just use one router to nat to the dual isp's? it can do advanced routing in one spot. old xincom is what i use $50-100 on ebay used.

Because I did it this way instead.

 

[imagoon]

Linux is a client OS and it supports it

Oh you mean MICROSOFT OS

Says who? Teaming is a function of the Nic drivers, not the OS. Shhh don't tell the XP box that I have teamed that teaming doesn't work on MS OS's.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Says who? Teaming is a function of the Nic drivers, not the OS. Shhh don't tell the XP box that I have teamed that teaming doesn't work on MS OS's.

I meant natively, Ive yet to come across a linux platform where i needed something additional that wasnt "out of the box" to enable the teaming.

 

[Emulex]

microsoft gimps xp - like the 4gb limit that doesn't exist in its server edition. believe it or not in some cases to test win2k3/sql 2005 32bit i still rock 3gb/AWE mode with 16gb of ram in vmware (esx 4) - because well it works and the testing works. alot of the drivers for 2003 work fine in xp; if you take 2003 and put it into workstation mode it for all intensive purposes is 2003 Workstation (xp) - iirc the network stack is the same in 32bit.